So how is it that one diplomat's troubles resulted in a massive international row between the world's most populous democracy and its most powerful one? Why is the arrest of one woman threatening to seriously damage warm relations between the two allies?

This is not the first time an Indian official has had an encounter with American law. In recent years, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was told to remove his shoes at airport security. Indian Ambassador Meera Shanker got a pat-down, and India's permanent representative to the United Nations, Hardeep Puri, was detained after he refused to take off his turban, also at an airport.

Not much was made of those incidents. But this time, the consensus is that a lot of people may be spewing hyper anti-Americanism for pure political gain.

Such sentiment has existed in India since the days following independence in 1947 and the country's formation of a strong alliance with the Soviet Union.

"There's a Cold War legacy when India was at odds with the United States over a range of issues," said political scientist Sumit Ganguly.

The Cold War residue surfaces from time to time. And this seems to be one of those times -- when that particular message is playing well. A patriotic stance abroad is helping drum up support for politicians at home before critical parliamentary elections in May, said Ganguly, affiliated with the School of Global and International Studies at the University of Indiana.

"All of these people are trying to demonstrate how tough they can be, how nationalistic they can be, how concerned they are about this woman," he said. "They are engaged in high drama. If Narendra Modi says it's terrible, then Rahul Gandhi has to say it's despicable."

Gandhi, a leader of the ruling Congress Party, is a potential prime ministerial candidate.

Court documents show that Khobragade lied in a visa application, promising to pay her domestic helper minimum wage of $9.75 an hour even though the actual salary was much less -- $3.31 an hour. Khobragade allegedly instructed the housekeeper to say she would be paid the higher rate and not mention her actual pay.